India set another global record for daily coronavirus cases Friday, registering over 414,000 infections in the past 24 hours. It marked the second consecutive day the country registered over 400,000 cases after reporting 412,262 infections Thursday. Health Ministry figures show there were 414,188 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total to 21.49 million. With 3,915 new fatalities, virus-linked deaths rose to 234,083. India has been battling a second deadly wave of the pandemic which has severely strained the country’s health system. Hospitals in the country are overwhelmed with patients, leading to an acute shortage of beds. As

Downward trend in the number of daily cases in Turkey has continued on Friday as the country reported over 20,000 new coronavirus cases, according to Health Ministry data. A total of 20,107 cases, including 2,210 symptomatic patients, were confirmed across the country, the data showed. Turkey’s overall case tally is over 4.99 million, while the nationwide death toll has reached 42,465, with 278 fatalities over the past day. As many as 35,529 more patients in the country won the battle against the virus, bringing the total number of recoveries to over 4.66 million. More than 48.9 million coronavirus tests have

Indian police seized over seven kilograms (15.4 pounds) of natural uranium and arrested two men in the western Maharashtra state for “illegally possessing” the highly radioactive substance, an authority said on Thursday. According to the anti-terrorism squad in Maharashtra, the confiscated material is worth Indian Rupees 21.30 crores (around $2.9 million) and an investigation into the case is underway. “We had received information that one person identified as Jigar Pandya was going to illegally sell pieces of Uranium substance, a trap was laid and he was arrested,” the Maharashtra police said. “Investigation into the case revealed that another person identified

Malaysia will bring its citizens back from the northern and western regions of India as COVID-19 cases continue to surge in the South Asian country. Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said his country would use a specially chartered aircraft to help the return of its citizens. “The aircraft will depart to New Delhi and Mumbai as soon as the Indian government gives the approval and all arrangements are finished,” Hussein said in a written statement on Friday. The southern and the eastern regions of India were not included in the repatriation mission as the situations there are reported to be under

Pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech have agreed to donate COVID-19 vaccines to athletes and staff of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic Games, which will be held this year after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Thursday. “As part of the plans to ensure a safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, the International Olympic Committee today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE to donate doses of the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine to Games participants from National Olympic and Paralympic Committees around the world,”

French fishermen ended their protest over post-Brexit rights at Jersey’s largest harbor on Thursday, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the two Royal Navy ships he sent to the Channel Island will remain there until the crisis is solved. The French fleet, numbering around 60 in total, sailed back to France after a French delegation met with officials in Jersey. Local media reported that the discussion did not go well, meaning the crisis could well continue or even escalate. Johnson phoned John Le Fondre, the chief minister of Jersey, to tell him he had his “unequivocal support”. France had also